Pathetic Fallacy
by aypapii
Summary: Britt has never learned to handle loss and kids. But when his twenty something year old kid nephew comes to stay with him, he's forced to deal with both.
1. Prologue

Rain splashed onto the wet pavement.

It was kind of like the sky knew what was happening today and decided it would reflect the mood of most people in the cemetery. It was pathetic fallacy in action and it sucked. Full on sucked. Because now, he didn't only have to attend a funeral but he had to sit in the pouring rain at the same time. He had to read his eulogy in the rain. It was bad enough the wrinkled paper already had ink stains from the crying he did, now it would have to put up with the rain that would further smudge the ink.

He didn't want this. Who does? Funerals are horrible and if he's learned anything the past, it's that death doesn't effect him properly. He'll shut down. He just knows it as he stares at his feet, mud staining his shoes. He was full of regret, just like the last time this happened, I mean, who isn't full of regret at funerals?

And all he can think about is how he should have _tried_ to have been more careful, should have _tried_ to have acted faster, should have _tried_ to say no but...

Trying doesn't matter.


	2. Chapter 1

"I need you to do something for me."

"When was the last time we say each other?"

"Two years ago. At father's funeral. Remember?"

Britt Reid did remember. Who forgets funerals? What he wasn't expecting was to see his older sister, Jemma, again. She had attended their father's funeral but that had been the last time Britt had seen her. Now, she had turned up on his door step, a worry denting her forehead. It was certainly a sight that had to be seen to be believe.

"Of course I do." Britt nodded, leaning an arm on the door.

"Right." Jemma nodded and invited herself in since Britt hadn't done so.

"Why are you here?" Britt asked as he shut the door.

Jemma let out a sigh and rung her hands out. She didn't answer him, only paced for a few seconds, obviously trying to figure out the words to say to her much younger brother. Britt crossed his arms and waited patiently for her to talk to him again.

"I need you to do me a favour." She eventually said.

"What's that?"

Jemma frowned. She was an attractive woman, tall and brown haired with sparkling blue eyes that she had inherited from their mother. She was also incredibly smart, much smarter than Britt and she would have made a much better candidate to take over _The Daily Sentinel _than he was. Their father had though that was the reason she had run from home but the truth was, she had fell in love.

"I need you to.. watch my son." Jemma said, slowly, carefully.

"You need me to do _what_?" Britt asked, incredulously.

"I know!" Jemma raised a hand. "It's a lot to ask, a huge lot to ask considering we barely see each other any more but... I need you to do this for me."

"I can't take care of a kid!" Britt exclaimed.

"It's only for a few weeks." Jemma headed, slowly, for the door. "Till I get back on my feet."

"You're on your feet!" Britt pointed to her feet.

"Figuratively, Britt." Jemma sighed and opened the door. "I'm sorry. Like I said, It's a lot to ask."

"Yeah, it is." Britt agreed.

"But he's..." Jemma looked out of the door. "Dying to see you again."

"Britt could tell there was something off with that statement. "Sure."

"It's been a while since he last saw you... so... I mean." Jemma shrugged.

Britt nodded, despite her not being able to see him. "What is he, like, two?"

"_Twenty_ two."

"Now's the not the time for Taylor Swift." Britt scoffed.

"No, Britt... He's twenty two." Jemma said.

"Oh... What?"

"Older than you thought." Jemma laughed nervously. "Anyway, I should go. You're obviously not saying yes and my cars right out there and-"

"He's in the car?" Britt assumed.

Jemma looked at him then nodded. "He is. I figured you'd say yes."

"Right." Britt stepped out of the house with her.

He could see in the car window. In the passenger seat, he could see the boy in question. He sighed and looked to Jemma, who was inching towards the car.

"Fine. Let me meet him."

"You're saying yes?" Jemma asked, shocked.

"I never said yes, explicitly." Britt said.

Jemma smiled and headed to the car. She pulled open the passenger door and started to speak, hushed, to her son. They seemed to be having some sort of argument. After a while, Britt cleared his throat to remind Jemma that he was still there. She looked up at him and grimaced slightly then returned to the car. The car door slammed closed and a very agitated young man came into view. Britt raised an eyebrow. It _certainly _ had been twenty years since he last saw the kid.

"Okay." Jemma rushed over. "This is going to be fine, right?"

"Sure." Britt said.

"No."

The siblings looked to him.

"Ricky!" Jemma warned. "That's not..."

"Nice?" Ricky asked. "I don't need to be."

Jemma looked as though she were going to reply but simply let out a sigh and turned to Britt. "Just for a few weeks, okay?"

"Okay."

"I thought you were taking me to Lisa's." Ricky complained.

"I was but... your Uncle here is a better option."

"Pft, _Uncle_." Ricky rolled his eyes and Britt raised an eyebrow. That attitude wasn't acquitted to the Reid's.

"Yeah." Britt nodded, pretending not to be annoyed by the kid. "Uncle."

Ricky fixed him with an annoyed glance and then looked back to his mother. "I don't want to stay here."

"Well... You're in luck! Britt doesn't want you here either." Jemma said.

Ricky's face fell. It was only for a second but Britt saw the complete and utter disappointment in his face but it was gone as soon as it was there. "Oh."

"What she means is, it's not exactly how I planned to spend my summer." Britt fixed Jemma's mistake.

Ricky raised an eyebrow. "Not exactly how I expected to spend mines either."

He then walked past Britt and into the house. Britt let out a long breath and fixed his gaze on a very red Jemma. "Well... that was smooth."

"It was stupid, I know." She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "I hope this isn't too much trouble."

"It's fine. I can deal with it." Britt said.

"Huh." Jemma seemed amused.

"What?"

"I'll be back in a few weeks, Britt." Jemma went back over to him and kissed his cheek. "Please don't let my son get hurt."

"I promise I won't."

Jemma gave him one last reassuring smile and then headed back to her car. Britt waited in the doorway until the black Sedan left the mansion grounds before going back into the house and inspecting his nephew inspecting the foyer.

"What'd my mum do to force you into this?" Ricky asked, sensing Britt's presence.

"What?" Britt asked.

"You know" Ricky looked at him. "No one wanted to keep an eye on me and my mum sure as hell wasn't taking me with her. She must have blackmailed you or something."

"I wanted to watch you." Britt said.

"Sure." Ricky chuckled to himself. "Why even?"

"I haven't seen you in a few years."

"Bullshit."

Britt was taken aback by Ricky. His whole demeanour was nothing like what Britt had expected. The only thing Britt had been right about was the fact that the boy was handsome – he obviously took his looks from his mother. He was tall and lean – unlike most of the Reid men – and his whole aura screamed "Don't touch me or I'll break your hand". The only Reid male trait he had gained with the blonde hair albeit his was a much lighter shade than Britt's sandy one. Britt had to look at him extra closely to make sure that his nephew was in fact his nephew.

"That's... colourful language you have." Britt would have been a huge hypocrite if he were to tell Ricky not to use such language, he himself was pretty colourful in his vocabulary. "Just like your uncle here."

Ricky grimaced and shook his head. "No."

"Come on, buddy, we're stuck together for a few weeks until your mum returns, we may as well communicate." Britt said.

"Okay." Ricky dropped his bag. "Two things. One, I'm not your buddy and two, don't ever try to relate to me. I know you're not trying to but your whole demeanour tells me that you're ready to bust out a few beers and ask me about cars or something."

"Well... We do have a cool garage..." Britt grinned.

"I don't care." Ricky said. "What I do care about is the fact that, like you said, we're stuck together for a few weeks. I don't want to know you."

Britt huff out a breath of air. "That's rude. You've only just met me."

"Exactly. What does that tell you?" Ricky arched an eyebrow.

Britt never said anything and didn't attempt to appease him any more. He was trying to recover from Ricky's attitude when Ricky picked up his bag and headed for the stairs.

"Wait!" Britt moved towards him. "You don't know what room yours is."

"I'll pick one."

Then he headed up the stairs, disappearing from Britt's view but, unfortunately, not his life. Britt honestly felt like calling Jemma and refusing to do this any longer. The boy clearly had an attitude problem that no other Reid men had adopted. But Britt knew he couldn't do that to Jemma, she had entrusted him to look after Ricky whilst she got her life back on track – Britt hadn't even known it'd left the track – and he couldn't disappoint her. Despite never actually seeing her on a regular basis – except a call at Christmas and Birthdays – Jemma was still his big sister and deep down, he was still that eight year old little boy who would sneak into her room at night and help her eat the box of chocolates that her boyfriend had given her. He wanted to impress her, to show that he could handle her angry twenty two year old son.

Britt was very aware of the circumstances of the boy's birth. It was something Jemma didn't like to talk about and it was something that had enraged their father when the then much younger girl ran off to go stay with her boyfriend half way across the country. What Britt didn't know was what happened after Ricky's birth. He'd lost contact with his sister not long after she left and the only hints that he got as to whether or not she was alright would be his father's phone calls, on which he'd listen into, whilst pretending to be a spy.

But Britt didn't want to dwell on the fact he was in over his head – drowning practically – and opted for going back to what he had been doing – nursing a ice cold beer and talking to Lenore via Skype – than go up and attempt to deal with the hurricane he had upstairs.

Britt always liked avoiding problems anyway.


	3. Chapter 2

Kato basically lived in the Reid mansion now. He had sold his apartment and promptly moved in with Britt a few weeks after they teamed up and became the Green Hornet duo. It was much more luxurious than the crappy little place he had previously lived in and he even got to spend more time in the garage than he would have, had he still been living in his apartment or if James were still alive – not that Kato had a grudge against his deceased employer.

Last night, it had been one of those night in which he'd been up so late working on the Black Beauty that he'd fallen asleep in her back seat and trudged into the kitchen, at around eleven in the morning with a sore back and oil stained fingers. He was longing for nothing but caffeine and a bed that wasn't a back seat when he entered the kitchen and saw a complete stranger in the middle of said room. Kato was too tired to attack – though some logical part of his mind told him that there was obviously a reason this person was in the kitchen in boxers and a Marvel t-shirt. He cleared his throat and caught the blonde boy's attention.

"Yo."

Kato raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you?" he asked with a hint of malice behind his words.

"Nah. I'm good." The boy nodded and Kato narrowed his eyes.

"I mean, why are you here?" Kato asked.

"What? Britt didn't break the news to you? Maybe he's throwing me a welcome party."

The boy grinned and Kato recognized the infamous Reid grin. He stopped narrowing his eyes and jutted his chin out a little.

"You... know Britt?" he asked.

The boy hopped up onto the counter without spilling a millimetre of liquid from the Cola can in his hand. "You could say that. Do you know Britt?"

"Yes. I'm his..." Kato couldn't friend the right word. "Acquaintance." He then offered the boy his hand. "I'm Kato."

Brown eyes stared at his hand as if it were a weapon – which it could be, if the situation called for it – and then were raised to his face. "Ricky."

Kato nodded curtly. "How do you know Britt?"

"My mum just so happens to be his sister." Ricky shrugged.

"Your mum... You're his nephew." Kato said. "Wouldn't that have been easier to say?"

Ricky wrinkled his nose. "Whatever. And what are you to him?"

"Mechanic, chauffeur, you name it, that's what I am." Kato smiled, proud of his status.

"Boyfriend?" Ricky tested, catching the mechanic off guard.

"Wh- what?" Kato spluttered.

"You said 'name it' and you're it, so I was just asking." Ricky shrugged.

"Oh." Kato let his face cool down. "And what if I were?"

Ricky shrugged, yet again. "Who you date and what you put up your arse ain't nay of my business."

Kato smiled again. He was actually growing to like this kid. He seemed to be more snappier than Britt was. It was hard to tell they were even from the same gene pool.

"Why are you here?" Kato asked, heading for the coffee machine.

"My mum's off to find herself in Africa or some shit like that." Ricky said and Kato didn't miss the way he looked at the ground, his face unreadable.

"I see. You weren't allowed to go?" Kato asked.

Ricky scoffed. "I'm probably the reason she went."

"I doubt it." Kato said without actually thinking.

He'd known Ricky for all of five minutes but could tell he wasn't a bad person albeit there was something lying under than cocky, sarcastic façade that he was hiding. Kato would have asked him what was up but as stated before, he'd just met him. In fact, Ricky sort of reminded Kato of him at that age... whatever age that was.

"That's... dope."

Kato could feel Ricky's eyes on his back whilst he made coffee. The conversation had long ended after Kato's comment, so he made coffee in silence and downed the whole cup in a swallow – burning his tongue in the process. He then made himself more. Now that he'd met the nephew of his friend, sleep could wait.

"Where is Britt?" Kato asked, saving this cup for a gentle drink.

"Still in bed? I have no idea." Ricky didn't give off the attitude that he cared.

"You don't like him?" Kato raised an eyebrow.

"I'd rather not even talk about it." Ricky shook his head and looked at his feet.

He _certainly_ didn't care about Britt.

"He's your uncle, you know." Kato took a quick sip of his coffee.

"Doesn't mean I gotta like him. Shared DNA doesn't mean you're qualified to like a person, no matter the relation to them." Ricky hadn't looked up from the ground throughout his whole spiel.

Kato, reading into the conversation, knew that this statement had less to do with Britt and more to do with another family member. Possible Ricky's mother.

"Good point." Kato nodded. "Though, I mean, if you haven't actually met them then you can't hold an opinion on them."

Ricky looked up and raised his eyebrows. "What are you, a_ therapist_?"

"Well, with my level of intellect, I could be." Kato joked.

It took a second but Ricky smirked and rolled his eyes. "I hope that's the only joke in your arsenal, or we're all fucked."

Kato gave a suggestive shrug. "You'll find out." The statement brought up a question. "How long are you here for, exactly?"

"What? You want rid of me already? I'm hurt." Ricky feigned sadness.

Kato chuckled. "You certainly don't have an acting career ahead of you."

"Ha. Ha." Ricky gave him the bird. "I'm sticking around for a few weeks."

"Maybe you'll be able to forge a relationship with Britt in that time."

Despite liking Ricky, Kato found it hard to deny that it annoyed him that the kid wasn't giving Britt the time of day. He wasn't sure what Britt's stance was on the whole Ricky not wanting to know him predicament but either way, he wanted to help Britt even if it meant forfeiting a relationship.

"You really need to work on your jokes." Ricky still smiled but there was hints of annoyance behind his eyes.

"Britt's not a bad guy when you get to know him." Kato said as Ricky let out a groan and slid off of the counter. Kato stood up, to be on eye level.

"I don't want to hear it." Ricky said and tossed his can in the bin.

"I'm just saying, you should at least try to get on with the guy whose keeping a roof over your head for the next few weeks." Kato attempted to reason with Ricky.

"He's doing it for my mum's sake, not mine."

Ricky brushed past Kato who grabbed his arm. He then found out that was the wrong choice, as Ricky pulled back violently from him, almost causing Kato to lose his balance and fall into the chair he had previously occupied. But it wasn't his own well being he was concerned about. The way the kid, who was now gone, had reacted to his touch had spiked something up in his mind. It certainly wasn't the way most people would react. And unless Ricky was just really, very, angry then there must have been something more behind it.

It may have been related to the whole family speech he'd received not too long ago. Coffee well and truly abandoned, Kato headed for his room. He was deciding if he should confront Britt or not about it. His friend may have more knowledge over his new ward than Kato would ever have. He knew he'd have to be careful, confronting Britt about it may also cause Britt to snap at him and shut him off the way Ricky had.

Only time would tell but Kato was more interested in how comfortable his bed looked.


End file.
